Human rights are not a niche specialism — they surface in everyday solicitor's work, from challenging a public body's decision to advising on detention, privacy, fair process or removal from the country. The European Convention sets out the rights; the Human Rights Act brings them home, giving courts and clients tools to use them in UK proceedings. Understanding how these two instruments fit together is what lets you spot a rights issue and argue it well.
This lesson builds that understanding step by step:
- Foundations of the ECHR — what the Convention is, how it entered UK law, and the categories of rights.
- Mechanisms of the Human Rights Act 1998 — interpretation, declarations of incompatibility, and parliamentary sovereignty.
- Public Authorities, Claims and Remedies — who is bound, who can claim, and what relief is available.
- Horizontal Effect — how rights reach disputes between private parties.
- Justifying Interference with Qualified Rights — the lawfulness test and proportionality.
- Articles 2 to 4 — life, ill-treatment, slavery.
- Articles 5 to 7 — liberty, fair trial, no punishment without law.
- Articles 8 to 11 — the qualified rights and how they are balanced.
- Protocol 1 and Article 14 — property, education, and discrimination.
- Derogation and Applying to the ECtHR — emergencies, and taking a case to Strasbourg.